Warning signs? Obama campaign’s media payback

Starting to see a bit of a disturbing trend with the Obama crew — and one to watch out for should The O advance on Tuesday. They just ditched reporters from three newspapers whose editorial boards endorsed John McCain — the Dallas Morning News, New York Post and the Washington Times — from the campaign plane for the critical final days. Some of these reporters have been traveling with The O since 2007.

Staying on board: A couple of documentarians and reporters from Ebony and Jet. Not folks with strict daily deadlines that need the access. Obama spokesperson Jen Psaki told Politico that the “demand for seats on the plane during this final weekend has far exceeded supply, and because of logistical issues we made the decision not to add a second plane.”

Or was it a bit of media retribution? The editor of the conservative Washington Times thinks so. Borrowing a page from the Big Palin Book of Rhetoric, John Solomon called the move the journalistic equivalent of “redistributing the wealth.” Eeek. If so, that’s Cheneyian. And yes, Kerry threatened it, too. And McCain kicked Maureen Dowd off his plane. But wasn’t The O trying to do things differently?

Hey, we know nobody feels sorry for reporters. But this comes after the payback dished promised last week on the Florida’s WFTV-Channel 9 station where Barbara West worked. She’s the reporter who asked Joe Biden “How is Senator Obama not being a Marxist if he intends to spread the wealth around?”

Barbara’s free to ask whatever she wants — as our First Amendment guarantees — even ideologically loaded, when-did-you-stop-beating-your-wife questions that are designed to not to gain information or knowledge but just be incendiary and get her mug on the national news for a few moments. Go for it, Barbara. And yes, her husband is a former Republican strategist who has kicked a couple thousand bucks to GOPpers. God bless.

The warning sign, though, wasn’t in the question or in West’s hubby’s resume. It was the reaction of O’s campaign: They canceled a scheduled Jill Biden appearance on the station.

“This cancellation is non-negotiable, and further opportunities for your station to interview with this campaign are unlikely, at best for the duration of the remaining days until the election,” wrote Laura K. McGinnis, Central Florida communications director for the Obama campaign.

McGinnis said the Biden cancellation was “a result of her husband’s experience yesterday during the satellite interview with Barbara West.”

Waaaaaahh.

Welcome to the the power of the front-runner. If they don’t like your questions, they’ll take their ball and their vice presidential nominee’s spouse and go home. Let’s hope that if Obama-Biden wins, they won’t shut out every journalist — or citizen — who asks a dumb, or even ideologically loaded, question. That’s dangerous. For everyone.